


Peter Parker vs The People of New York

by keepinginks



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Hurt Peter Parker, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker is a Little Shit, Peter Parker is a Mess, Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-18 14:34:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29119785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keepinginks/pseuds/keepinginks
Summary: Peter wasn’t afraid to admit he quite liked helping the average citizen with their personal problems, be it a lost cat or helping an old lady keep hold of her handbag.What he didn’t enjoy was being stabbed by one of the said old ladies.“Jesus lady! What's your problem? I just stopped this guy taking your purse?!” He howled as he lept back clutching his side, the guy he’d just webbed up smirking at him from where he was stuck to the wall.“Go’on, get!” The old woman squawked again, brandishing an old butter knife that had been sharpened to a wobbly but razor-sharp edge, her grimy coat flapping about as she jabbed erratically towards where Peter was hopping about in pain.Collection of stories about Peter Parker interacting with the people of New York.
Relationships: Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 3
Kudos: 30





	Peter Parker vs The People of New York

**Author's Note:**

> Pre warning, I'm very very much British so if I've used the anglicised version of a word when it should be the American version just let me know, I had to wrack my little brain to remember what the right word to use was so many times, and yeah I could have googled it, but I'm also a mess so no.

Saving old ladies from being mugged was such a day to day occurrence for Peter, that he didn’t even blink an eye when Karen suddenly alerted him to what was happening half a block over. 

Old ladies in need and helping lost kids were menial tasks compared to the heavier, and infinitely more dangerous, crimes he stopped when the streets were empty and the cover of darkness brought out the shadier side of Queens. But, Peter wasn’t afraid to admit he quite liked helping the average citizen with their personal problems, be it a lost cat or helping an old lady keep hold of her handbag. 

What he didn’t enjoy was being stabbed by one of the said old ladies.

“Jesus lady! What's your problem? I just stopped this guy taking your purse?!” He howled as he lept back clutching his side, the guy he’d just webbed up smirking at him from where he was stuck to the wall. 

“Go’on, get!” The old woman squawked again, brandishing an old butter knife that had been sharpened to a wobbly but razor-sharp edge, her grimy coat flapping about as she jabbed erratically towards where Peter was hopping about in pain. 

“Okay! Okay, I’m going! Jeese Lady, I was just trying to help” Peter shouted as he quickly scurried up the wall and away from the wild movements of her spindly arms. Reaching the top he flipped onto the roof and let his back gently sizzle against the hot roofing felt, his hands quickly fumbling around his side where the knife had jabbed into him. Hoping it hadn’t done too much damage he finally listened into what Karen was saying.

“...Peter? My sensors are indicating a fairly sizable puncture wound to your lower left abdomen, would you like me to contact the appropriate facilities capable of handling this situation?” Peter blinked at the stats Karen had thrown up on the HUD as she spoke, then quickly bent forward to inspect the wound himself. 

“Karen please tell me I did not just get stabbed by an old lady with an actual butter knife?” The harder he thought about it the harder it became to believe it had actually happened. 

“Based on my video feed, I can one hundred per cent confirm you were stabbed by an old lady with a butter knife, would you like me to send the video clip along with your vitals to Mr Stark?” The barely hidden smirk behind Karen's words had Peter throwing his head back with a groan, begging her that under no circumstances was she allowed to send anything about what had just happened to his mentor. 

“Okay Peter, but if your vitals fluctuate anymore I have no choice other than to contact Mr Stark” Karen’s voice ended on a warning note, and Peter found himself cursing his AI, if he didn’t stop the bleeding she would have no issues with ratting him out. 

Swinging his right leg over the ledge of the roof with a grunt, Peter scooted forward till he was able to gently nudge his left leg into a similar position without causing his side to flare up in pain. What kind of person just walked around with a mostly defunct kitchen utensil, stabbing it wildly into helpful passersby? Most people if they didn’t want to thank him just ran without any word, he’d much rather nothing than whatever that crazy old lady had offered.

If getting to a position where he could use his web-shooters to swing away was fairly painless, actually swinging was a completely different story. The initial drop was fine, but the second the tension pulled him back up, Peter had to bite his lip to stop every swear he had ever learnt from spilling out and startling the people on the sidewalk below. 

Barely a second later Karen flashed a warning up about his vitals, but he just ignored it, opting to put all his concentration into his swinging. He managed about two blocks before the burning in his side started to flare white-hot and he landed in a graceless heap in the back alley of a greasy looking takeout place. 

“K-Karen? How we doin’?” He wheezed, trying to catch his breath without moving his left side.

“Sorry Peter, contacting Mr Stark…”

\-----------

As Tuesday afternoons went, this wasn’t the best. Pepper had scheduled two meetings back to back, and what could have been a productive day in the lab had instead been filled with stuffy rooms and even stuffier businessmen. Tony had only just managed to beg off twenty minutes to grab a late lunch at the Conference building cafeteria before Pepper wanted him in the tower’s R and D labs to sign off on research grants for the mid-weight interns. 

He was three bites into possibly the saddest meatball sub he had ever eaten when F.R.I.D.A.Y pushed a call through to his lock screen. 

“Fri c’mon I’m eating!” He mumbled through the bread as he tried to cancel the call without looking. 

“It’s Peter Parker calling boss, and in accordance with the programme ‘Baby-monitor: Toddler Style’ you instructed me to push through any calls that come from his suit.” The lilting voice of his AI forced Tony to choke the dry bread down and wipe his fingers onto his pant leg as the call connected. 

“Hey Kid, it’s three in the afternoon, why are you even in the suit?” There was a soft grunt in response from the other end that had Tony squinting at the ridiculous ID photo Peter had set for himself a few months back “Okay, a different angle, why is Karen contacting me in the middle of the afternoon when you should be playing with your little nerd friends?” 

Peter’s voice squeaked in a way Tony could only presume was offence before the teen finally spoke. 

“I-I have no idea why Karen called you...Maybe she needs an update? B-But honest there is no reason to worry, I’m just...Yeah, I’m just on patrol y’know, saving cats, helping people cross the street...B-Boring stuff...Real boring, I’ll just go now…” Peter’s voice trailed off but Tony stopped him before he could disconnect. 

“Fri keep this line open. See kid, you telling me not to worry is making me worry. Karen doesn't call me for any old reason, you helped me code the new update to give you more independence for christ’s sake, so I’m gonna give you a chance to tell me exactly why I'm talking to you right now” The gears turning in Peter’s head were almost perceptible to Tony through the phone as he waited for the kid to respond, and finally after a full minute Peter’s voice floating through the speaker again. 

“Honestly Mr Stark, I-I don’t know why we’re talking right now...Not that I don’t like talking to you! J-just I don’t know w-why Karen called you ‘s all” 

“Wrong answer” Tony bit out as he went to stand, his hand trying to brush his greasy fingerprints from his grey suit before anyone might notice “Fri, be a doll and get Parker’s vitals for me” 

Striding down the corridor he quickly grabbed Happy from where he was nursing a coffee and threw a quick apology at a murderous looking Pepper before the two of them burst out of the slightly dated conference centre's front doors. 

“Mister Parker's vitals boss” F.R.I.D.A.Y’s voice called from the phone before throwing the visual to his glasses for him to inspect, the flashing numbers causing his eyebrows to shoot up. 

“Peter Parker! If you ever try to pass off being stabbed- STABBED!- as nothing ever again I will personally stab you myself!” The threat only caused Peter to splutter as he desperately tried to argue that it wasn’t too bad before Tony cut him off once again. 

“Can it kid, don’t you dare move a muscle, we’re five minutes out and if you keep complaining I’ll get Happy to drive over every pothole on the way back to the tower, see if you say getting stabbed isn’t too bad then” 

Peter didn’t respond then, and Tony found himself glad the boy had some sense of when to quit arguing and accept his fate. Five minutes turned out to be more like ten minutes, however, but he was kept his anxious thoughts to a minimum by monitoring the vitals still up on his glasses, and listening out for the huffs of Peter breathing along with the scuffling of his suit against asphalt through the line F.R.I.D.A.Y was holding open for him. 

“Spider-man?” Tony called as he clambered out of the car Happy had haphazardly parked at the end of the alley “Kid where are you?” A moment later, longer than Tony was really comfortable with if he was being honest with himself, a suit-clad arm waved lazily through the air from behind a pile of trash bags. 

Ignoring the tart smell of the air, Tony jogged past the black bags and crouched next to Peter, who awkwardly threw him a peace sign before pulling his mask off. 

“H-hey T-ooo-ny” He smiled from where he had propped himself between the overflowing dumpster and the damp wall “What you d’in here?” As he spoke he flopped his hands about in loose gestures, stopping suddenly to look down at his side which had started bleeding again at the movement and lack of pressure.

“Oh ‘m leaky” He pouted with a frown at Tony who had lunged forward to cover the wound with his own hands. 

“Shit Kid, whoever got you, got you real good” The pressure his hands provided seemed to stop the blood fairly well but the pallid sheen of Peter’s skin and the absolute nonsense he started spouting had Tony hauling him upright. 

“Yeah M’s’r Star she was a real ol’ bat...like anc’nt...on’y try to help her...but noooo...why she wan’ed to I dunno! Sp’ders don’ go on toast...st’ck to but’er ol’ lady!” The rambling didn’t stop till Tony had bundled the teenager into the back of the black Audi and they were halfway to the tower. 

As they drove Peter had slowly gotten paler and paler till Tony was pretty sure the kid could pass as an unpainted window mannequin, what with how he was trying not to move a muscle and only breathe in shallow little gasps, his eyes darting from Tony’s face to the window and back again being the only sign he was still conscious. 

A moment later, however, Peter took a deeper breath before smacking his lips a few times, his eyes finally stopping their frantic search and settling on Tony. 

“Mmm...Don’ like thi’” He mumbled before taking another shuddering breath, eyes filling with tears “Don’ like i’...’urts” 

Static filled Tony’s head as he found himself wiping the tears away with his thumbs.

“Hey, no, no it’s okay” He soothed frantically, shooting Happy a desperate glance through the rearview mirror “I know it hurts, but we’ll get you fixed up right away, I promise kid you’ll be fine in no time” 

The tightness that had settled in Tony’s chest the second he’d seen Peter’s vitals, slid two notches tighter as the kid continued to mumble in pain, his smaller hands grasping clumsily at where he was holding pressure on the wound. 

This was so not where this Tuesday was meant to go, he was meant to finish his boring meetings then end up in R and D, go home with Pepper, eat some greasy pizza, all before retiring to his lab for the next twelve hours. No Tuesday should ever involve holding a kid together while racing across the city, Tony knew that for a fact. 

And maybe if it was a random kid he could go home afterwards, satisfied he did a good job at playing hero; do everything that he had planned still with no guilt. But it wasn’t some random kid, it had to be his kid, oh god his kid, his stupid kid who couldn’t just play video games with his friends, instead choosing to roam the streets of new york to see where he could help out. 

This damn kid. 

The tightness didn’t stop constricting him once they reached the tower either if anything it reached a point where he wasn't even sure how he was capable of functioning, and thank god he had the sense to keep a small medical team based at the tower because there was no way he could sit next to a bleeding kid all the way to the compound and be able to sleep the night, hell it would be a miracle if he slept tonight as it was. 

If he ever had to watch the panic in Peter’s eyes as he was hauled onto a stretcher and whisked away, his bloody hand desperately trying to clutch at Tony’s sleeves, ever again he would burn the spider suit so the kid couldn't put himself in danger ever again. 

“Boss?” Happy called from the other side of the car, his face passive but a crinkle in the middle of his forehead giving his worry away “You good?” 

“Yeah, Yes of course...Erm, I’ll let you know how he is” He didn’t know if Happy responded, only that he needed to get into that elevator and go straight to wherever Peter was. 

It took him a moment though to realise that F.R.I.D.A.Y had bypassed the floors that held the small medical lab and taken him straight to the penthouse.

“No, no Fri, I need to see the kid, take me to medical” As he spoke Tony heard a waver in his voice, so alien and weird it made him stop short, wondering if the words had really come from him.

“Sorry Boss, Medical said it’s nothing life-threatening so best to leave it to them, they will inform me of when Mister Parker is ready to be moved, may I also add that Ms Potts has arrived and is on her way to see you” The reassurance the wound wasn’t life-threatening loosened the knot across his chest a fraction, and Tony was able to stumble his way into the penthouse allowing the elevator to close. 

The blood covering his hands and sleeve cuffs finally registered and he found he couldn’t take his eyes off them, the darker areas closest to his wrist holding the deepest fascination and it was Pepper arriving that allowed him to peel his eyes away. 

“Tony!” She shrieked, heels clattering against the hard floor as she skidded the few yards from the elevator door to where he was standing “Oh my god, Friday let me know about Peter, is he okay?” She pulled his face towards hers and searched his expression for any clues as to what was happening. 

Tony blinked hard for a few seconds before gently pulling her hands back from his face and opening his mouth, still fumbling mentally for the words he wanted to say.

“I-I, oh umm, yeah Pep, he’s fine, He’s fine, bit banged up but fine” The fact he couldn't share in the relief that had Pepper sagging against his arm was a strange feeling, Peter was fine and would make a full recovery there was no doubt about it, but he couldn't find the right string to pull to fully release his breathing back to normal. It must have shown on his face as Pepper raised an eyebrow at him.

“What else is it? You said he’s fine but your face is telling me a different story. He's had much worse injuries in the past, from actual missions in fact, what's going on Tony?” The tension that had left her shoulders was slowly building back up as she spoke, and the long shaky breath Tony let out had her staring at his face again. 

“I think that’s just it, He didn’t get this injury in some fight or mission he begged to be a part of, he was helping some random new yorker in the middle of the afternoon, that’s a time when he should be safe, how am I meant to let him go out when he could just as easily be killed by some idiot on the street as he could a crime ring” As he spoke the knot shifted and finally fell free, the ability to drag in a satisfying breath clearing his head a little. 

Fiddling with his collar, Pepper smoothed the point downwards before catching eye again.

“You’ve just gotta let him, Tony, he would do it anyway, but this way you get to be there to help and make sure he doesn't seriously injure himself” She pressed a small kiss to the side of his mouth before pulling away with a smirk “Anyway it’s about time you get to experience how I feel whenever you shoot off on silly self-sacrificial missions, call it karma” 

\---------

The small medical wing of the tower was one of Peter’s least favourite floors. Admittedly he spent more time there than some of the other floors but frequency didn't always mean preference, and his preference right now would definitely be the penthouse with its large couch and ridiculously fluffy throw blankets. 

A tall Nurse had explained to him that once they stopped the bleeding with stitches and had him dosed up with painkillers, it would just be a case of waiting for it heal on its own; for the wild nature of the old ladies jab she hadn’t slashed anything important and given a few days of bed rest and good food he wouldn’t even have a scar. 

He was inspecting the stitches when Tony walked through the small doorway, stopping with an unimpressed look at the foot of the metal hospital bed. 

“You rip them stitches and you’re putting them back in yourself” The tone of his voice had Peter baring his teeth in an awkward smile.

“H-hey Mr Stark, uh, thanks for y’know digging me out from the trash it was real gross in there” He tried to smile at his mentor but let his lips fall into a grimace when Tony’s expression didn’t shift.

“If I ever have to come find you again, because some old lady with chin whiskers and cat pee-stained leggings has decided to gut you with a butter knife, and you were too stupid to call for help immediately, I’m revoking all lab privileges because Stark Industries does not hire dumbasses, you reading me loud and clear Pete?” 

Peter nodded slowly, wary of where Tony was taking the conversation, but perked up when a horrendously coloured dressing gown was dumped at his feet. 

“Get dressed, Doc’s said you’re free to go so long as you don’t overdo it, so you’re going to have a sleepover on the couch till I’m satisfied your health is back to a normal” The grim expression his mentor had been sporting was replaced with an arched brow and the hint of a smile. 

With as much enthusiasm as he could gather, Peter held the dressing gown up for inspection and tried to make out whatever the printed fleece was meant to be. 

“Mr Stark, is this meant to be the Hulk?” He asked as he shrugged it on and slipped awkwardly off the bed, catching Tony’s arm to balance himself as his feet hit the floor. 

“Yep,” He replied, popping the ‘p’ obnoxiously before grinning at the younger boy “Now Pete, tell me exactly how some tiny old woman managed to best the oh so amazing Spider-man?” 

“I can’t believe Karen snitched like that” Peter groaned dramatically, throwing his head back before snapping it back upright with a guilty expression “Erm, did anyone call May?”

“Shit!”

**Author's Note:**

> There is a long and strangely convoluted story attached to the creation of this work (and no it doesn't involve being stabbed by a butter knife) but it's far too long to share and also slightly boring, but if anyone has any suggestions or ideas for interactions let me know. This is a filler for my time as who even knows when I will go back to work at this point.


End file.
